Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 283 Ponpo Cries, Plasma Team Takes the Blame (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

The fireworks display burst into colorful and dazzling fireworks in the night sky, reflecting the stars and illuminating the dark night.

After the brief joy and surprise brought by the fireworks, the lively and bustling celebrations continued. Meloeta gently lowered her hand, and the colorful musical notes around her gradually dissipated.

"Melo~"

Meloetta danced lightly around the two who were officially dating. The music it had just created was a gift it gave to Mingyou and Xiaozhao. It felt a little embarrassed because it had been taken care of by the two of them.

Mingyou chuckled softly. Happiness had come too suddenly; he probably needed two minutes to adjust. He gently held Xiaozhao's hand and murmured.

"I'm sorry, I always make you..."

"Let's not talk about what's past."

Xiao Zhao no longer cared about those things. She gently pursed her lips, savoring the feeling from just now, and still thought she was really bold.

However, she was somewhat curious as to why she admired Mingyou. It was because Mingyou always faced life with optimism. Despite having suffered from amnesia like her, she was not lost and instead supported her family on her own. This was also why she liked Mingyou.

But why is the other person also towards her...? She never thought of herself as a perfect person; she also has many flaws.

Now, Mingyou no longer had any reservations about her question and could open her heart to talk to her. She smiled and replied, "Because you are amazing. You defeated myths, saved the world, and brought the dawn of a new era... Even Arceus, the Grand Master of Sinnoh, acknowledges you, while I am just a..."

Before Mingyou could finish speaking, Xiaozhao reached out and gently pinched his face, staring into his eyes.

She knew what the other person wanted to say: because she had once been an emissary of the Sinnoh Grand Master, she felt unworthy? What nonsense! It was just an alpaca; anyone could beat it up. Alpacas never cared about saving face.

Then, with a gentle smile, she continued, "Those are all things of the past. Now I'm just an ordinary teacher... and I will be the future mistress of the manor!"

Hearing this, Mingyou grasped the hand that was pinching her face and pulled her into a hug, saying with a smile, "The future? It's here now."

"We've only just started dating..."

Xiao Zhao said with a hint of resentment, but made no attempt to break free. Instead, she opened her arms and hugged him tightly, bringing her face close to his ear and whispering, "I can only feel at ease when I'm with you."

"Let's stay together forever then~"

"Hmm~"

Seeing the two embracing tightly, the wings could no longer hold back and jumped out, joining Meloetta to surround the two.

Hearing the noise, the two quickly separated. Having just started dating, they were still a little shy. Mingyou coughed lightly twice and looked at them, "Everyone's here?"

"Mengmeng~"

"It looks like they've been secretly following us all along."

Xiao Zhao has a keen intuition and noticed it slightly while shopping, but she didn't pay any attention to it.

However, she still had to thank Meloetta for tonight's events, otherwise Mingyou would probably have been disappointed again. But then, she suddenly noticed that someone seemed to be missing.

"Where's Ponpo?"

"Mengmeng~"

They've gone to find Meloeta.

"Melo?"

Hearing Zhenyi say this, Meloetta looked puzzled. "Have you looked for it? No, I don't think so!"

"Wait, I'm a little confused..."

Mingyou waved for them to be quiet and spoke one by one. He also felt that Ponpo's condition was a bit off today, and these little guys must know something, which is why they all huddled together and followed behind.

When questioned, everyone hesitated. They had promised Pengpeng not to tell, but with Pengpeng missing, it was best to tell the truth...

After hearing the answer, Mingyou and Xiaozhao exchanged a glance. They hadn't expected that Ponpo had organized everyone to go together because she didn't want to disturb their date.

"Melo..."

Meloeta felt somewhat guilty. If she hadn't wanted to find a quieter creative environment to leave, Ponpo wouldn't have gone missing after looking for her.

"Don't blame yourself. I saw it half an hour ago, delivering things to others, which means it's definitely still here at the celebration."

Mingyou comforted Meloetta, then looked at everyone and said, "Let's go find it first. Ponpo is a very innocent child. There are so many at the festival, I'm afraid it will be bullied by bad people or Pokémon."

Xiao Zhao nodded slightly, her eyes instantly becoming serious: "Yes, let's go together... By the way, doesn't it have a Rotom phone?"

"My... I almost forgot."

Mingyou slapped her forehead, realizing she had been in such a rush that she had forgotten about this. She immediately took out her Rotom phone, ready to contact the other party to send her location and travel with everyone from the strait to the festival site.

But just as Mingyou called Pengpeng, she saw a very familiar figure standing under a street lamp not far away, holding a ghost mask and looking dejected.

"Hello!"

Just as Xiao Zhao was about to greet Peng Peng, Ming You gestured for everyone to be quiet, then took her phone, Rotom, and walked ahead.

At this moment, Ponpo was covered in dirt, as if she had been running around somewhere. Her eyes, which were originally as bright as stars, now looked much dimmer, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes, which she was trying hard not to cry.

It wasn't until Rotom received a call and automatically flew out of its cape that it came to its senses. Looking at the screen showing that it was Mingyou calling, it raised its hand, about to answer, but then became conflicted.

"Hmm..."

"It would be better to answer the phone, just in case it's something important."

"Hmm!?"

Upon hearing the sound, Ponpo's expression froze instantly. She slowly turned around and looked at Naruto, who was holding a phone and smiling as he walked towards her.

Looking at the other person, Ponpo could no longer hold back her self-blame and ran to hug Mingyou while crying.

"Hmm..."

Mingyou let the child hug her tightly, reached out to brush the sand off its cloak, and gently stroked it to soothe its emotions. She said softly, "We agreed not to cry anymore. What happened? You're so dirty. Did you go to run errands for someone else again? Or did someone bully you? Tell us what's wrong. Everyone is here."

"Hmm..."

It searched for a long time but couldn't find Meloetta. She must have been captured by Team Rocket. It was all its fault for not protecting Meloetta. They had made a promise.

Ponpo felt too ashamed to come back; it hadn't protected anything, and already...

"Melo?"

When did I get caught by the Rockets again?

Meloetta floated to Ponpon's side, put her little hand to her mouth, and looked puzzled.

"Hmm!?"

Upon hearing Meloeta's voice, Ponpo snapped back to reality, looked up at it, and stood there dumbfounded.

Weren't you arrested?

"Melo?"

"What? You were arrested?"

Mingyou didn't quite understand, but she quickly realized what was going on and explained with a smile, "Meloeta is on our side; she hasn't disappeared."

He felt that Ponpo must be feeling guilty because she thought the Rockets had captured Meloetta since they couldn't find her.

But look, there's no Rockets team here. Everyone's fine; it was just a misunderstanding.

Although that was indeed the case, Ponpo couldn't care less about explaining anymore. All the worry and anxiety she had felt for so long vanished at this moment, and a smile finally appeared on her dirty face.

Mingyou wiped away its tears and gently patted its head: "Look at you, you're so dirty. Let Sister Xiaozhao give you a bath when we get home tonight."

"Don't you dare use the synchronizer to peek again!"

Xiao Zhao's voice came slowly from behind. She walked to Ming You's side, smiled at Ponpo, and said, "Sleep with me tonight~"

"Can I come along?"

Mingyou asked jokingly. Now that they're dating, he's gradually become bolder. He would never have made such a joke before.

In response to the question, Xiao Zhao reached out and gently pinched his cheek, replying, "Sure, but you'll have to sleep on the floor. Don't think I don't know what you guys are thinking... At least wait until Ponpo and all that stuff are gone before we talk about this."

"Just kidding..."

Mingyou really didn't have that kind of intention, and right now, there was something more important to do: he needed to tell Pengpeng about his relationship with Xiaozhao.

After all, this child has been looking forward to it, and tonight is the busiest night for him.

"Hmm?"

It was only then that Ponpo realized something was amiss. Had their relationship become closer?

Could it be that...?

Before Mingyou could explain what had happened, Pon hugged the two of them tightly, feeling immense joy. He felt that all his hard work that day had been worthwhile, and the two people he loved were finally together!

"Mmm~"

"Ha ha."

Mingyou and Xiaozhao exchanged a smile. This was exactly what they wanted to see. Now that their date was over, and everyone was here, let's continue tonight's celebration!

"Mmm~"

Ponpo took their hands, just like when they went to buy a harmonica together last time. As for what happened with the Rockets today? Let's talk about that later. Even if the date is over, we can't spoil everyone's fun!

Mingyou and Xiaozhao smiled at each other again, and led everyone toward the celebration venue.

Meloetta gently nestled on Ponpo's head and apologized. She felt truly guilty seeing Ponpo's remorseful expression for not finding her.

"Mmm~"

Ponpo doesn't care about such things, as long as she's safe. But next time you want to go out alone, you must ask her to come along.

"Melo~"

Hmm~ It definitely will~

Everyone returned to the celebration venue and bumped into Xiaoguang, who was participating in a competitive eating contest there. They pulled each other along to continue enjoying the celebration.

It wasn't until nearly midnight that everyone, still feeling a bit unsatisfied, called the villa's butler to take them home, finally getting a chance to relax after a long time.

That night, Ponpo went to rest with Xiaozhao. Mingyou didn't go over to sleep on the floor. She was just joking, but who knew if the other person was joking?

And I'm really tired today, but he did fail in his duty tonight. If something really happened to Meloetta, he wouldn't have been able to react in time.

"We can't be careless during this period... Luckily, the Rockets didn't show up. Those guys were unusually slow to react, haha."

Thinking this, Mingyou slowly closed his eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep. He dreamt that he and Xiaozhao returned to the manor, got married, and lived happily ever after with Pengpeng...

Nothing happened that night. When the next day came, the group came downstairs for dinner and discussed some of the interesting things that happened at the celebration the night before.

But when Sally suddenly returned, she told them something very outrageous... about the Rockets being wiped out on the beach next to the celebration site.

Meanwhile, at Team Rocket's headquarters in the Kanto region, Giovanni had also received the news. He angrily crushed the cigar in his hand, while his companions, including the Persian boss and his secretary, trembled in fear.

"One Lance, plus four headquarters executives, nine Unova branch executives, over 40 elite members, and several Pokémon—all of them were just arrested by the police like that?"

This is the most angry I've been since my failed attempt to capture Mewtwo a few years ago.

He slammed his fist on the desk, demanding of his subordinates, "What on earth is going on? So many people, equipped with advanced equipment and weapons, and you can't even take down one Mingyou?"

Furthermore, according to some surveillance footage, Mingyou didn't seem to have any contact with Lance at all; he was on a date with his girlfriend and shopping the whole time. So who exactly wiped them out?

Faced with their boss's rage, the subordinates hung their heads and dared not respond. It wasn't until then that Sakaki's secretary, Masato, who was standing to the side, pushed up his glasses and spoke up: "According to the information we received, the former GO branch executive, Hilla, was not caught by the police this time, and there is not even a trace of her. Moreover, she was probably sent by Lance to arrest Meloetta."

"What about Meloeta?"

"this……"

True Bird's forehead was beaded with cold sweat, clearly flustered. At that moment, Apollo, who had maintained his elegance from below, said softly, "Could it be that Hilla betrayed us? After all, we never supported her Shadow Pokémon Project, and we didn't intervene when Cliff and Alo were captured by Lance in Kitakami Township. So, she might have held a grudge and leaked this information?"

"Go on!"

Sakaki has great trust in Apollo, who has been with him since he took over the Rockets and is now the Rockets' second-in-command.

Apollo nodded slightly and continued, "Since Naruto, the target, had no motive, and the International Police only learned of the situation very late, it couldn't have been them or some official Trainers in the Unova region. Therefore, in the Unova region, there is only one group capable of doing this!"

"You mean... that Plasma team that's always sneaking around preaching?"

Sakaki immediately connected the dots and had the same suspicion, so he urged him to continue.

Apollo stroked his chin lightly and continued, "If it's Team Plasma, they're very familiar with the legends of the Unova region, including the Meloetta incident. After all, they seem to have connections with the Unova Kingdom, so it's possible that Sheila kidnapped Meloetta and handed it over to them, instructing them to attack our Team Rocket!"

Upon hearing this, Sakaki felt that the matter was almost certain. He clenched his fists tightly, his face turned cold, and he sat back down at his desk.

"Team Plasma...you dare to go against Team Rocket? Just you wait!"

……

(End of this chapter)